As part of the final MICF Festival Club of the year, the official Melbourne International Comedy Festival award recipients were announced at the HiFi Bar and Ballroom last night. Many in attendance were eager to gain a prize but sadly there could only be a limited amount of winners.
The first presentation was for the Funny Tonne, where teams of two competed to see the most shows in the festival. In past years items such as second hand netball trophies and joke books were used as prizes but this year it was pair of unicorn heads on sticks, leftovers from Mark Watson’s marathon show of last year. Brother and sister Brendan and Jacinta O’Neill saw 73 shows, partners Barb West and Fran Murphy witnessed an impressive 164, but mother and son Lynn and Brian Williams took the victory with 172 shows.
It was juice boxes all round when “Sammy J”:comic and “Heath McIvor”:comic won the Age Critic’s Award for Best local show. Their Moosehead assisted show “Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams” impressed many at the broadsheet.
Next was the Golden Gibbo gong, awarded in memory of comedy legend “Linda Gibson”:comic for a visionary, independent local production. This years prize went to Suitcase Royale with their show “The Ghosts of Ricketts Hill”.
The comedians choice gong, the Piece of Wood award, was presented next. The much gnawed block was given to “Tom Gleeson”:comic for “Tom-a-thon” who promptly added his teeth marks.
“Sam Simmons”:comic won the Festival Director’s Choice Award for his show “Where Can I Win a Bear Around Here?”
The Melbourne Airport Best Newcomer Award went to “Nazeem Hussain”:comic and “Aamer Rahman”:comic for “Fear of a Brown Planet”. Aamer was unable to be there in the flesh and was represented by a photograph.
The main award for the night, the Barry Award revealed a surprise result, a tie for the prize. The joint winners were “Nina Conti”:comic for “Complete and Utter Conti” and “Kristen Schaal”:comic and “Kurt Braunohler”:comic for “Kristen Schaal: As You Have probably Never Seen Her Before”.